Wednesday, February 27, 2013

My boys and I were driving home from Lubbock, TX to the country part of Meadow, TX. We were driving West on Hwy 211 when we noticed something in the sky at approximately 6:45 pm. We just watched thousands of Canadian Geese appear to be flying South. As we continued down the road, we noticed a jet to the left with a normal vapor trail. But to the right, there was a much shorter but thicker trail. No idea what it was. So we watched it all the way from Lubbock Hwy to Hwy 303 while traveling on 211. It started out as being a thick short white trail traveling in our direction. From what I know, I could have only assumed it was a meteor being seen outside our atmosphere. But as we continued our journey, we noticed that once we crossed Hwy 385, it appeared to be traveling in the same direction as we were. As we approached the road to our home hwy 303, it actually had by then changed to a light glowing red color like a tiny fire and eventually appeared to be traveling back up. My oldest boy is 14 and he and I are the ones who watched this intently. I just want to know if anyone else saw the same thing or if maybe our minds were just so bumfuzzled by the event that we imagined it changing directions and the setting sun gave it the appearance of changing colors.

2nd email:

Sunny,This happened yesterday evening. It appeared to be about an inch long if i were to guess. We watched this for approximately ten minutes until we got to our home where trees then blocked our view. I can't say whether it was still visible or not after we arrived home. With all the meteor reports from Russia and the one over California, this is what we initially thought. But as i said before, it looked like it changed directions and color but we are not sure. It was very interesting and strange. [Name withheld by SW/LITS]

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Eruptive events on the sun can be wildly different. Some come just with a solar flare, some with an additional ejection of solar material called a coronal mass ejection (CME), and some with complex moving structures in association with changes in magnetic field lines that loop up into the sun's atmosphere, the corona.

On July 19, 2012, an eruption occurred on the sun that produced all three. A moderately powerful solar flare exploded on the sun's lower right hand limb, sending out light and radiation. Next came a CME, which shot off to the right out into space. And then, the sun treated viewers to one of its dazzling magnetic displays -- a phenomenon known as coronal rain.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Here are UFO sightings reports from around Texas, which were submitted to MUFON between 02/12/2013 and 02/22/2013.

The reports are listed by the date of the sightings event and are unedited.Jenkins, TX08/09/199810:44 PM Summary: Red Orange Glowing Rectangular

Report:A friend and I were on the way home on HWY 259 headed north. As we came over the hill prior to the bridge over lone star lake, we saw straight ahead an red orange glow in the sky just above the clouds. This was a huge glow. Our first thought was a house fire or something of the sort. So we immediately turned off the highway and drove towards the light, only the further we drove west to it the farther west it would get from us. about 15 min later it just whooshed up and away into the clouds.

We were baffled by the experience and I still would like to know what it was over Jenkins, Texas.

*

Henderson, TX11/25/20122:30 AM Summary: multiple glowing orbs with slightly shiny surface when not emmiting light and I also started getting headaches when the lights started getting much brighter and more colors started to appear

Report:it was about 2 to 3 oclock in the morning when I couldnt sleep so I thought I go outside get some fresh air. then I started to notice a small pulsating light at the corner of my eye.I first noticed the light when it started to get bigger and brighter. When it started to cross the sky in crazy patterns and then more objects suddenly appeared. They began to pulsate sequintually while still getting brighter. After about an hour,all but one of the objects dissappeared. Then the last object got much brighter and while rising swiftly to the sky started pulsating and concentrated on the blues and greens (prevously emmiting a whide variety of colors). While the object was flashing blue and green I started to get violent headaches that lasted only about 1 - 2 minutes then then the object turned solid white and shot across the sky. If I blinked I probably would have missed it going away. As soon as the object was out of sight my headache stopped. For a moment when I was having the headache I thougt I heard a weird sounding voice. It seemed to be a language of some sort but the voice did not sound like a person. I could not figuer out what the voice was saying. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING CRAZY. after all but 1 of the object disappeared I was feeling very uncompfertable and sick to my stomach. Thats all I can remember.

*

Tilden, TX02/13/201312:00 AMSummary: Bright orange lights, fading in and out for a few seconds at a time, travelling slowly

Report:I work nights in a remote area with very little light. I first observed the lights while sitting in my work truck around 2100 hrs, they were 800-1000 meters SE of my location at about 50-100 feet off the ground. I immediately got out to get a better view, the lights were only visible for approximately 5-10 seconds. Not enough time to take a cell phone video.

They were organized in a horizontal line traveling slowly to the west. I am not sure if the lights were part of a larger object or separate from one another. They emitted a very bright orange light and faded in and out sequentially, the rear light would fade out and then reappear in front. Possibly indicating a rotating object? I can only speculate. If it was an aircraft it was moving to slow to achieve aerodynamic lift and I could not hear any noise.

After the lights were gone I continued scanning the sky to see if they would reappear somewhere else. After a few minutes I spotted two orange lights hovering near a brightly lit drilling rig 5-10 miles to the west. These two moved independently of each other moving slowly in opposite directions. They were visible for about 15 seconds and were also somewhat dimmer. A few more minutes passed and I observed a single orange light hovering above the rig for around 10 seconds.

Finally after 20 minutes of continued observation I saw a dim orange light at what seemed to be a far distance(20+miles)climbing in elevation of a few thousand feet at 20-30º from my viewpoint before it faded out.

The lights seemed to be followed by two aircraft but I cant be certain. The planes appeared to be on a SW intercept course with one at low elevation and the other high. There is an airforce base nearby and their course came from that direction. The planes made a about a 50 mile loop and returned in the direction they came. Not sure if their presence was related.

I have seen similar lights before so I was sure that these were the same lights. I was pretty freaked out with the hair on my next standing up, its not something I can explain. Could be natural, man made, or of a higher intelligence. A truck driver asked if I "had seen any UFOs" about an hour earlier. I wonder if he saw the same thing.

*

Carrollton, TX02/14/201312:00 AMSummary: Noticed 2 unknown stars in Canis Major. First they were still. Then they moved straight down and faded out.

Report:I was in the backyard and looked up at Orion then looked at Canis Major. I saw nothing unusual. I walked across my backyard and threw something in the trash and I looked back up at Canis Major and noticed that between the top two stars were two stars I have never seen before. They were as bright as the stars in Canis Major and were about as far apart as the two top stars of Canis Major. These lights were vertical and made a diamond shape with the top two stars of Canis Major, where the top two stars of Canis Major were horizontal. I looked in confusion because I have never notice these stars there before. They were completely still and when I was about to accept them as stars I have never seen, they started moving straight down in tandem. The space between them remained consistent as if they were lights at each end of one object. They moved slowly but steadily for about 15 seconds until they faded out.

*

San Antonio, TX02/16/20139:00 PMSummary: Cluster of about 10 red lights appeared in the sky. Various witnesses pulled over watching them.Report:I was driving home heading west on loop 1604 in San Antonio. I was talking to my wife on the phone when I see a shooting star. I hang up with my wife and continue driving. I noticed cars on the side of the road but I thought they had just broken down. I then turn north and witness more cars pulled over. I turn west again and look up and see a cluster of red lights in the sky. I try my best not to take my eyes off of the them. I pull over and grab my iPhone and attempt to take video. The video only shows black since camera phones are meant to record at such distances. I observe the objects moving in different directions. One starts to pick up speed and is moving directly over me. The rest are still clustered together. The light above me suddenly disappears. I continue observing the cluster but they seem to be fading away one by one. Suddenly they are all gone.

South Houston, TX2013-02-1612:00 PMSummary: 4 orb like objects and 1 rocket like with wings

Report:I was sitting outside with my dogs, enjoying the beautifully clear day, watching the birds chasing each other, when I just happened to look up just above my roof and in the far distance I saw a shiny white/greyish orb like object just appear out of nowhere. I was kind of hovering, yet possibly moving very slow. I called out to my partner to come outside and see what I was seeing. The 1st orb like object appeared in the east and traveled in a SE direction at a slow rate of speed and just disappeared within 10 minutes. After the 1st orb disappeared a 2nd shiny white/greyish orb appeared in almost the exact spot as the 1st on did. The 2nd orb also traveled in a SE direction, but it was faster and zigzagged, it disappeared within 15-20 seconds. After the 2nd one disappeared a pinkish/translucent rocket like object with several wings appeared and was moving at a very slow rate of speed in a southern direction. The rocket like object then seemed as it sped up, when it sped up a 3rd orb like object appeared just behind it and seemed to start chasing it. Both the rocket like object and the 3rd orb sped up very fast and the just disappeared into thin air in about 30 seconds. I had my cell phone on and was recording all three, I went inside to download the video, and only one came out and was abruptly cut short. I then decided to go back outside and see if I could see anything else. I was outside for about 3 minutes when I noticed another orb appear, this orb seemed as though it was either flashing or spinning, it too was traveling in a SE direction. I then called out for my partner to come back out because I spotted another orb. My partner and her brother both came outside, as we were watching the 4th orb a drone like craft came out of the west, moving in a SE direction at a high rate of speed. The drone like object then began chasing the flashing orb, the both disappeared into thin air within 20-30 seconds. I was unsure of what I had just seen, but I do know they were nothing I have ever seen before. None of the objects acted like any plane, blimp or balloon.

Report:I was taking a walk with my daughter(6) who was scootering along the Fish Creek Linear Trail. The sun was setting, clouds were amazingly beautiful. We were observing jets flying by, some with vapor trails and some without. When out of nowhere to the NE a Huge dull metal boomerang shaped craft, approximately 2 to 4 times the size of the jets, descended vertically through the cirrus looking clouds, hovered for approximately 30-40 seconds in plain view, then ascended vertically back through, it could be seen for a little while through the clouds but then disappeared. There was quite a breeze and I saw the clouds slowly flowing by the craft, it was not effected by the wind, it remained stationary. This event was observed by my daughter and I. I immediate knew it was not a plane, balloon, bird, hang glider, optical illusion, or reflection. I had no huge emotions or feelings just curiosity, wanting to see it again or find out more about it. After arriving home I asked my daughter to draw a picture of the object. She drew it exactly how I saw it, same exact shape and she even shaded it with a pencil to show exact color.

Report:Saw one very bright, very vivid object maneuvering like nothing Ive ever seen before. Best approximation is that it was 1000-2000 feet off the ground, though could be as much as a mile. This approximation is based on scrutiny against fixed ground objects as well as my inability to focus on any sharp edges of the object. Size of the object from my perspective, if height estimations are correct, is at least as big as a large commercial airliner. I was driving alone when I first saw it, but there were other cars on the road. I saw at least one person slow down almost to a stop to look at it, but they did not stop, so I can not speak for them.

As I was traveling east, the object came into view from my left (north) and accelerated to my right (south). It have never seen an object like this in the sky before, so I had no idea what it was. It was a definite acceleration from left to right. Nothing like Ive ever seen an airplane do, and I have been traveling right next to DFW airport for work for many years. It decelerated even more quickly and hovered to my right for many tens of seconds. I parked my car and got out. Though I was moving about a bit in excitement, I could tell it was spending some time in its position in a stationary hold, and would also "bob" a bit as well. Then it started moving back toward the north. It didnt follow a perfectly horizontal trajectory. It seemed to bob up and down ever so slightly as it traveled north. It exhibited a few other small momentary stops, starts, and non-linear movements, though I do not remember them precisely.

When it got back to approximately the same location as where I first saw it (from left to right and back, Id say the span equaled about 90- to 100-degrees in my best estimation, with an elevation of approximately 70- to 80-degrees off the horizon), it again very quickly decelerated and stopped. It hovered there for what seemed to be more tens of seconds, then quickly ascended vertically. It stopped again and then descended vertically below the tree line. I ran back to my car to try to find it again, but could not.

I have video as well. It is not extremely high quality, but I made sure to rest my phone against a light pole to minimize camera shake and did my best to align the focus point with the object. Unfortunately, in my excitement, I did not pay attention to the orientation of my phone, so the original videos are upside-down. I have two clips of the object (about five minutes total).

The object was a very vivid configuration of red and blue lights. It was blue (almost violet) in the middle, with red affects surrounding the blue. It appeared to change angles as I watched it, but it seemed to be a somewhat flat disc configuration with the blue in the middle. The colors did not pulse, nor did they seem to change in wavelength. They were much, much larger than any of the blue and red beacon lights Ive ever seen on an airplane. The lights seemed to fill the span of the object with very little space between them. It also did not make any sound that I could hear.

I do not rule out the possibility of my estimations of its elevations being incorrect and it being a police drone, but it is VERY difficult for me to believe that is the case due to its quite apparent size given my very careful (as well as I could) approximation of its elevation. It would have to be one huge drone that moved very, very quickly. Given the sizes of drones Ive seen, it would have to be much, much lower in the sky than this object appeared to be as big as it was from my point of view.

I was very excited when I saw the object. I hear people talk about "UFOs" a lot and am quite fascinated with the phenomenon myself, but I have never actually seen anything that made me think something extraordinary was happening. I have a very specific list of criteria I require before Ill believe something is truly a "UFO" and not something mundane. This object passed muster by a long shot. Its erratic and extremely unusual flight characteristics were undeniable, as were its supposed speeds and accel/decel capabilities from my perspective. I was very excited during the experience and still am.

I would be happy to share the video files. They are quite large and are upside-down though. I will attempt to compress them and rotate them, but will also happily share the unedited originals if required/helpful.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

I received an email from a gentleman in Crosby, Texas. He was requesting assistance in filing a report.

I sent him questions to answer, which he complied, then he contacted me by phone.

This report is a compilation of both written and oral reports.

*Location of Sighting: Crosby, Texas

Date and time of the sighting: 01/15/2013 at Approx. 3:30 AM

How long did the sighting last?: Approx. 10 min.

What you were doing at the time the sighting occurred?: we were awakened by our dog barking at it and running back and forth in our driveway.

What direction was the object(s) first sighted?: Approx 20% north/nw of our back door, faces north

What was the direction of object(s) flight?: it was stationary

In what direction was the object(s) headed when it/they disappeared? N/A

How far was the object was from you?: I could not determine the distance, maybe 1 mile.

How high above the ground (AGL) did the object(s) appeared to be?: 200' above the ground

Did the object(s) appear to be the size of (a) a star; (b) a pea; (c) a marble; (d) a golf ball; (e) a softball; (f) a basketball; (g) a beach ball: Unknown

Actual size of object: Did the Object(s) appear to be the size of (a) a basketball; (b) a car; (c) a small plane; (d) a commercial jet; (e) the moon;Looked like a star, white in the center, with colored lights on the points. Looked like a small plane, it was absolutely stationary.

What size (feet or miles), color and shape did the object(s) appear to be: Unknown

Did the objects have any lights (as in beacon or navigation) and describe appearance and activity of the lights.: Witness described a white central core with revolving points like that of a 5-pointed star.

Was the flight straight-line, or did the object change directions, hover, descend, ascend, etc.: N/A

What color were the lights (if any). Include intensity, how many, etc.: The lights on the points were red, blue and green, very bright (at least 5)How many witnesses and whether they are willing to report the sighting: my wife and i watched it, she went into our house to get a camera, and when she came out it had vanished.

Investigator's notes: I spoke on the phone with this very credible witness. He stated that the center of the object was white but that it appeared to have points of colored lights about it, that gave it a 5 pointed star effect. It was stationary during the entire duration of observation. His wife went into the house to retrieve the camera but when she returned, the object had disappeared.

After the object disappeared, the dog (which had been extremely agitated), stopped barking and calmed down.

Apparently, weather was not a factor. The witness claims the skies were clear. He created a grid using tree branches to determine if the object moved. It did not.

Although there were a number of bright stars visible in the N/NW, we discussed that possibility but the witness firmly stated that the object was too large to be a star or planet.

Although the object appeared to be only a mile away at the most, no sound was heard. He stated to me that he is sure it was not a conventional aircraft.

The witness is a trained observer with many years experience. He is also a licensed pilot. To protect the witness' identity, I can't reveal any more information.

If you live in the Cosby, Texas area and saw this object, or have seen something similar, please report it. Thank you. -Sunny Williams

Saturday, February 16, 2013

*No, the Russians did not shoot down a UFO, despite some claims. Unfortunately for residents of Chelyabinsk, Russia, it was nothing more than a huge rock from space; a meteor/bolide which it happened to fall to earth only hours before asteroid 2012 DA14 made it's 17,200 mile pass (closer than many satellites)!

At the time of this posting, approximately 1200 people have been injured, in and around Chelyabinsk, mostly by flying glass. Many people may have been injured after having been knocked off their feet by the blast from the fireball.

According to the trajectory of the Chelyabinsk bolide, it had nothing to do with asteroid 1012 DA14... and it wasn't a UFO. -SW

WASHINGTON
-- NASA experts will hold a teleconference for news media at 4 p.m. EST
today to discuss a meteor that streaked through the skies over Russia's
Urals region this morning.

Scientists have determined the
Russia meteor is not related to asteroid 2012 DA14 that will safely pass
Earth today at a distance of more than 17,000 miles. Early assessments
of the Russia meteor indicate it was about one-third the size of 2012
DA14 and traveling in a different direction.

Panelists for the teleconference are: -- Bill Cooke, lead for the Meteoroid Environments Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
-- Paul Chodas, research scientist in the Near Earth Object Program
Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

News media interested in participating should dial 888-843-7186 and use the passcode METEOR.

A meteor streaked across the sky and exploded over Russia's Ural Mountains with the power of an atomic bomb Friday, its sonic blasts shattering countless windows and injuring about 1,100 people.

The spectacle deeply frightened many Russians, with some elderly women declaring that the world was coming to an end. Many of the injured were cut by flying glass as they flocked to windows, curious about what had produced such a blinding flash of light.

The meteor -- estimated to be about 10 tons and 49 feet wide -- entered the Earth's atmosphere at a hypersonic speed of at least 33,000 mph and shattered into pieces about 18-32 miles above the ground, the Russian Academy of Sciences said in a statement. But even small asteroids pack a tremendous punch, explained Andrew Cheng of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

"It doesn’t take a very large object. A 10-meter size object already packs the same energy as a nuclear bomb," Cheng, who led a 2000-2001 mission for NASA to orbit and land on an asteroid, told FoxNews.com.

Amateur video showed an object speeding across the sky about 9:20 a.m. local time, just after sunrise, leaving a thick white contrail and an intense flash.

"There was panic. People had no idea what was happening," said Sergey Hametov, a resident of Chelyabinsk, a city of 1 million about 930 miles east of Moscow.

"We saw a big burst of light, then went outside to see what it was and we heard a really loud, thundering sound," he told The Associated Press by telephone.

The meteor hit less than a day before Asteroid 2012 DA14 is to make the closest recorded pass of an asteroid to the Earth for a rock of its size -- about 17,150 miles. But the European Space Agency said its experts had determined there was no connection -- just cosmic coincidence.

The meteor released several kilotons of energy above the region, the Russian science academy said. According to NASA, it was about 15 meters or 49 feet wide before it hit the atmosphere, about one-third the size of the passing asteroid.

Some meteorite fragments fell in a reservoir outside the town of Chebarkul. The crash left a 26-foot-wide crater in the ice.

The shock wave blew in more than 1 million square feet of glass, according to city officials, who said 3,000 buildings in the city were damaged. At one zinc factory, part of the roof collapsed.

The Interior Ministry said about 1,100 people sought medical care after the shock wave and 48 of them were hospitalized. Most of the injuries were caused by flying glass, officials said.

There was no immediate word on any deaths or anyone struck by space fragments.

NASA statement on Russia meteor:"According to NASA scientists, the trajectory of the Russia meteor was significantly different than the trajectory of the asteroid 2012 DA14, making it a completely unrelated object. Information is still being collected about the Russia meteor and analysis is preliminary at this point. In videos of the meteor, it is seen to pass from left to right in front of the rising sun, which means it was traveling from north to south. Asteroid DA14's trajectory is in the opposite direction, from south to north."

Update: February 15, 2013 7pm PST

New information provided by a worldwide network of sensors has allowed scientists to refine their estimates for the size of the object that entered that atmosphere and disintegrated in the skies over Chelyabinsk, Russia, at 7:20:26 p.m. PST, or 10:20:26 p.m. EST on Feb. 14 (3:20:26 UTC on Feb. 15).

The estimated size of the object, prior to entering Earth's atmosphere, has been revised upward from 49 feet (15 meters) to 55 feet (17 meters), and its estimated mass has increased from 7,000 to 10,000 tons. Also, the estimate for energy released during the event has increased by 30 kilotons to nearly 500 kilotons of energy released. These new estimates were generated using new data that had been collected by five additional infrasound stations located around the world – the first recording of the event being in Alaska, over 6,500 kilometers away from Chelyabinsk. The infrasound data indicates that the event, from atmospheric entry to the meteor's airborne disintegration took 32.5 seconds. The calculations using the infrasound data were performed by Peter Brown at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

"We would expect an event of this magnitude to occur once every 100 years on average," said Paul Chodas of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "When you have a fireball of this size we would expect a large number of meteorites to reach the surface and in this case there were probably some large ones."

The trajectory of the Russia meteor was significantly different than the trajectory of the asteroid 2012 DA14, which hours later made its flyby of Earth, making it a completely unrelated object. The Russia meteor is the largest reported since 1908, when a meteor hit Tunguska, Siberia._________________________________________________________

Preliminary information indicates that a meteor in Chelyabinsk, Russia, is not related to asteroid 2012 DA14, which is flying by Earth safely today.

The Russia meteor is the largest reported since 1908, when a meteor hit Tunguska, Siberia. The meteor entered the atmosphere at about 40,000 mph (18 kilometers per second). The impact time was 7:20:26 p.m. PST, or 10:20:26 p.m. EST on Feb. 14 (3:20:26 UTC on Feb. 15), and the energy released by the impact was in the hundreds of kilotons.

Based on the duration of the event, it was a very shallow entry. It was larger than the meteor over Indonesia on Oct. 8, 2009. Measurements are still coming in, and a more precise measure of the energy may be available later. The size of the object before hitting the atmosphere was about 49 feet (15 meters) and had a mass of about 7,000 tons.

The meteor, which was about one-third the diameter of asteroid 2012 DA14, was brighter than the sun. Its trail was visible for about 30 seconds, so it was a grazing impact through the atmosphere.

It is important to note that this estimate is preliminary, and may be revised as more data is obtained.

Witness report:
I am located about 3 miles southeast of Stephenville, Texas. A friend and I were standing in my driveway about 7pm. It was a full moon night with a low lying cloud cover. The clouds were so thick the moon and stars could not be seen. However the moon did create a luminous glow behind the clouds. I noticed a large glowing object above the horizon to the southeast. I pointed to the object and we both speculated as to what it could be. It was moving too slowly for an airplane and we heard no helicopter sounds. We heard no sound at all but my neighbor's dog did begin to bark as if to alert of an intruder. The object randomly glowed from a bright amber (to almost white) then it would dim to a deep orange (almost red). The object was following an arc about 45 degrees above the horizon. The direction was southeast to northwest. My friend said he could see a shape, triangular, I could not. However I observed that when the object would brighten it would cast a glow on the clouds above it. The glow was a different color and brighter than the light of the moon. The object continued until it was almost directly overhead at 90 degrees angle to the ground; it then vanished completely. It winked out as if someone had turned off a light. The duration of the sighting was perhaps 2 minutes or less. We discussed the event briefly then I went inside to check the time (7:05 pm). I went back outside and we discussed the events we had just witnessed, comparing observations and attempting to be as objective and accurate as possible. My friend is a skeptic and was rather excited by the sighting. I grew up in this area and began to tell him of the many other unusual things I've seen here. Suddenly another glowing object appeared in the same location as the first one. This object had the same characteristics as the first object and follwed the same flight path. It moved the same speed and when it reached a point 90 degrees overhead it also disappeared. My friend had retrieved his cell phone and checked the time (7:26pm). We noted the objects had appeared about 20 minutes apart and decided to wait 20 minutes to see if another one appeared. I got out my camera and tripod, my friend moved his car so I could set up. As I was sighting my camera I joked that retrieving my camera would hex the evening so that another object would not appear. Unfortunately, it was an accurate prediction and another object did not appear. However a jet did come roaring overhead and we were struck by the difference in sight and sound when contrasted against the UFO.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Depiction of the trajectory of asteroid 2012 DA14 on Feb 15, 2013. In
this view, we are looking down from above Earth's north pole. Image
credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

*

There is a 150ft wide rock headed for Earth. Traveling between 12,427mph (20,000kph) and 18,641mph (30,000kph), asteroid 2012 DA14 is expected to fly by, even closer than the orbits of high geostationary telecommunications and weather satellites. Some of those satellites are 22,000 miles (35,406km) above Earth. However, experts calculate that on February 15, 2013, 2012 DA14 will skim by Earth at a distance of approximately 17,200 miles (27,681km).

Well, that's a relief! A 330ft meteor is believed to have been the cause of the 1908 explosion over a remote region of Siberia, known as Tunguska. Although that object exploded a short distance above the ground, it generated a blast that was 1000 times more destructive than the A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The 1908 explosion completely flattened 830 square miles (2,150 sq km) of Tunguska forest.

Don't put off getting those flowers, chocolates, or other Valentine treats for your honey. 2012 DA14 is predicted to be at it closest approach at approximately 1:30 PM Friday (the 15th), Texas time.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

The Martian rover Curiosity has discovered a shiny piece of dark metal, found protruding from a rocky area on the red planet's surface. The photo certainly peaked 'my curiosity', so I decided to enlarge and enhance the object in the image provided by NASA.

If you will notice in the full image, there appears to be tire marks, one of which shows up very well. At first glance, I had figured out what that shiny piece of metal is! Any biker can tell by the clues in the photo, that it's a part that fell off of a Harley Davidson motorcycle! A foot-peg.

Seriously, what has NASA spent billions, perhaps trillions of dollars on Mars missions, if they don't plan to investigate something like a piece of metal found in a rock-strewn Martian landscape? "Oh yeah, a piece of metal. Whoopee. Probably just a chunk of meteor, or metal ore that happens to look like a door handle. Rocks are so much more interesting." Not!

Just where is the curiosity in the Curiosity science team? Hold on, it's coming to me... "ignore the obvious." It's an unusual piece of flotsam in a sea of dirt and rock, nothing more. Gotcha! Carry on.-Sunny Williams*

Slashgear.com- The Curiosity rover on Mars has been keeping itself quite busy lately, most recently boring into Mars’ red surface in order to find signs of life. However, in its downtime, the rover likes to take a lot of photos, including self-portraits, but this time around, Curiosity came across a strange chunk of metal sticking out of the ground? What could it be?

The photo was snapped on January 30 using one of the rover’s MastCam cameras to get shots of the landscape, and it ended up getting this odd piece of metal in the frame. NASA’s scientists aren’t 100% sure what it is, but they think it may be a chunk from a meteorite, or possibly a chunk of ore that became exposed by some sort of erosion.

It’s said that the object is only a half-centimeter tall, so it’s extremely tiny compared to how big it looks in the image. NASA hasn’t said whether or not it will check out the piece of metal, or if they’ll just ignore it and continue on with their planned experiments. After all, they do have more holes to drill.

However, while some think it’s simply a tiny piece of metal, Elisabetta Bonora of Alive Universe Images, mentions that the hunk of metal takes up about 35 pixels in the image. Taking into account the camera’s resolution and the distance between the rover and the object, the size of the chunk of metal may actually be larger than just 0.5 cm — it’s possible that it’s up to a foot tall. At this point, we’ll never know, unless NASA decides to investigate, but it’s very possible they just might let it be and continue on as scheduled.

Report:At approx 22:45 on Feb 6th 2013 a rumbling/grumble/vibrating & fluctuating ball of light appeared outside my second floor north facing bedroom window startling my wife and I for approx. 10-20 seconds. As I moved downstairs my children were heading upstairs reporting the same thing outside their south facing individual bedroom windows on the first floor. We immediately went outside and saw numerous neighbors emerging from their residences searching for something. Our homes electricity faltered, although power remained on numerous homes the entire length of our street had lost complete power. After speaking with some neighbors they reported the same experience that happened at our home, one neighbor was outside and reported the lights hovering in the of and then shot straight up. Police patrols were immediately apparent and it appeared they were searching for something, at times racing down the roads back and forth. Power company vehicles showed up later and at approx. 12:30 am the other residents homes were returned to power. Our new (Dec 2012) in-ground pool lite was burnt out by the incident and the cable TV, internet and telephone all stopped working. This morning 2/7/13 the power company trucks began working on the power lines behind my home and the cable guy just showed up to fix the issue. The police patrols reported to the residents on the block that they could not explain the incident nor the fact that most of the homes along the block all reported similar lights & noises outside their windows at the same time. The power lines only run behind my house and my immediate neighbor to the west neither of us lost power just the other homes on the same street. The 4 adult members of my family experienced this same event on different floor of the home with the windows facing different directions. There were numerous other neighbors who also experienced this event.

*A witness reported to MUFON, that he and his girlfriend witnessed what appeared to be a battle between a keyhole-shaped object and a smaller object in the night sky.The report is posted here, unedited.

*

MUFON Case # 45625 Indianapolis, Indiana01-10-2013Summary: appeared to be a possible battle perhaps.

Report:My girlfriend and myself like to watch for meteors and on this particular night, we witnessed what we later concluded, was a battle in space between a massive, black, rectangular, keyhole shaped object and a much smaller craft. The small craft appeared as a varying point of light and moved across what had to be thousands of miles of space instantly, as though protecting a spot in space. It appeared to be firing some sort of guided type of light weapon at the larger object. This went on for many minutes and I recorded it on my cellphone camera for over 7 minutes until the battery died. I as of yet have not tried to have the video enhanced on a computer but plan on doing so in the near future.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

I received an emailed report from a witness in Tomball, Texas, who saw lights which formed a triangle and crossed the sky. Here is that unedited report.

*

Tomball, TexasFebruary 3, 2013I was at a friend's house near Tomball, TX and went outside around 7:15pm to move my car when I spotted 3 strange lights in a triangular shape moving from the south west toward the north west. The lights were orange as they came toward me and as they passed, which occurred very quickly. The objects came into and disappeared from view on the western horizon all within a couple minutes. Unfortunately, I was too mesmerized to use my camera on my phone.

I can't really say how high they were, but, I'm guessing they weren't any lower than 5-10,000 feet due to the fact that there is a municipal airport (Hooks) to the south of our location, but they were much too high to be coming from there. Also, the glide path for Houston Intercontinental is just to the north and east of here, and the lights were not in the normal path of landing for that either.

Were there any other reports such as this tonight, or any thoughts?

I imagine most people were watching the Superbowl during that time, so, not too many eyes on the sky. If I see them again, I'll whip out my phone/camera and try to get a shot of it, but I doubt it will happen again soon, it seemed kind of a chance situation.

Please do let me know if you run across any other reports of similarities from tonight, I'm really curious about this.

I didn't realize it, but my son was actually smart enough to pull out his phone a grab a picture the other night.

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Lights in the Texas Sky

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About Lights In The Texas Sky

In this blog, you will read eye witness accounts of UFO sightings, that have been submitted to MUFON, NUFORC and other respected UFO research organizations. Manyof these reports will be of sightings that occurred in the state of Texas.

Only a very few reports are my own sightings. Some reports are those that have been submitted directly to LITS.

On LITS, you will also read editorials, commentary and science news that is pertinent to UFO research and our world today.

It is my goal and that of my colleagues, to search for the truth behind the UFO phenomena, to be respectful of witnesses and to share this truth with the world.

LITS is a non-profit group, with no ties to any government agencies. As concerned citizens, we seek answers to the UFO Phenomena.

If you have witnessed an unidentified flying object, or had an encounter with an unknown aircraft or it's occupants, please contact LITS and submit your report.

Stay safe and keep watching the sky!

Sunny Williams - LITS

"There is nothing as powerful as the truthand often nothing as strange."-Daniel Webster

About the Author

Also known as "Sky Watcher", I am a retired photographer, Photo Tech., Computer Tech., and Artist, now working full time as a UFO Researcher/Investigator.
I have also received training in scientific remote viewing.
It is my goal to give readers of LITS the data to make informed decisions. It is not a matter of 'believing', it is a matter of 'knowing.'

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